Use the Engagement Methods Tool to find the right tool for your community and stakeholder engagement project.
Social networking site based on users’ professional expertise.
A Hackathon is a short, high-energy event where diverse participants — such as designers, community members, developers, policy thinkers or creatives — come together to rapidly develop solutions to a specific challenge. Traditionally associated with technology or innovation, hackathons are increasingly used in community engagement to prototype new ideas for civic issues, policy design, or […]
Graphic Facilitation is a visual engagement technique where a trained facilitator captures key ideas, conversations, and themes in real-time using drawings, symbols, and words. This can occur on large sheets of paper, whiteboards, or digital tablets. It is used during meetings, workshops, or forums to enhance understanding, create shared meaning, and support memory retention. This […]
Crowd Funding is a participatory fundraising method that engages individuals to contribute small amounts of money — usually online — to collectively fund a specific initiative or cause. Often hosted on dedicated platforms like Chuffed, GoFundMe, or StartSomeGood, crowd funding campaigns use storytelling, images, and clear goals to inspire people to donate and share the […]
Citizens working with organisations to contribute to scientific research with the aim to increase scientific knowledge.
Dotmocracy, also known as dot-voting or idea rating, is a method for group prioritisation to help progress ideas or action.
Storytelling helps people make sense of the world and engage with each other on a different level.
Similar to an opt-in e-panel except members are randomly-selected to avoid bias.
Community members opt in to be part of an online engagement panel.
Online forum where invited or self-selected participants contribute to an online discussion about a topic or project for a set period of time.
Development of online or non-digital games which participants play to solve problems and accomplish tasks.
A forum where a representative sample of the community deliberates on a topic, issue or proposal. Forums last at least 2 days.
An exploratory, facilitated group method where participants are asked to close their eyes and visualise what their community looks like now and in the future. Uses visualisation and dialogue and may be extended to include creative arts activities.
An online series of posts about an engagement project or issues, which the community can share and comment on.
Advertisements paid for in print, broadcast or online mediums. Can be used to promote projects, engagement activities or to meet legal obligations.
Research involving a community of practice trying to solve a problem through action. Communities act as “co-researchers”.
A website where content is not owned by a specific person or organisation, but is created, deleted or modified by members of the public.
A structured process to host a conversation with community or stakeholder representatives. Includes a series of questions that are objective, then reflective, interpretive and decisional.
A small group discussion hosted by a facilitator about a focussed topic.
A structured process where participants discuss a question or series of questions at a group of small tables.
Community and stakeholders are invited to tour a site to gain a deeper understanding or to gain first-hand experience.
A method for hosting a meeting, conference or summit which is focused on a particular purpose or topic, but which has no formal agenda set.
A form of discussion where participants agree to suspend judgments to fully explore a question and seek shared meaning.
A structured method to explore specific, complex issues, and where participants work in small groups.
Gathering ideas, services and content, from online users, rather than from staff or suppliers. Crowdsourcing can including asking for solutions to a problem, seeking funding for a project such as a start-up (crowdfunding) developing creative content or graphics, or to gather information. Can include a competition or incentive.
Presentations and discussions with community or stakeholder groups. Can vary widely from informing to gathering feedback, ideas or options.
Process where the community works with an organisation through its budgeting process.
Community members gather and share photos that represent their ideas or preferences for the future. Can be incorporated into face-to-face engagement events, or collected and shared online.
Capturing participants ideas, expressions and discussions in real-time during an engagement activity, to create a visual representation of the discussions.
A public information session incorporating a series of displays or stations staffed by technical experts, engagement professionals or the project team.
A future planning process where participants undertake a series of sessions on the past, present, future, common ground, and action planning. Designed to develop a shared vision for the future.
A highly-structured method involving a representative jury or panel of non-expert citizens who deliberate during a chaired public hearing held over 2-4 days where they hear evidence from a range of different experts. Jury members decide who to call in as expert witnesses. Participants make recommendations or decisions.
A large-scale 2-3 day event where a large number of diverse people come together to consider information, engage in dialogue, participate in interactive activities and make recommendations.
Participants individually write their ideas, concerns, issues on cards. These are shared in small groups then categorised by the whole group.
A structured process for decision making that focuses on building on strengths (“what works well”), rather than focusing on problems and limitations.
A group activity to identify and then prioritise issues, concerns or ideas.
Consumers and users work works with designers to codesign products, services or processes
